Nothing Left But the Ashes of Brothers
by The Prussian Girl
Summary: They looked up just in time to see another bomb falling almost directly on top of them. "BROTHER RU—" The bomb exploded when it struck the building beside them.


Skies burned red with fire as bomb after bomb rained down upon the once beautiful city.  
Buildings crumbled all around the two young men, who were hardly older than boys really, sending pillars of ash and dust into the rapidly darkening sky. The elder of the two grabbed the younger's hand and urged him to go faster. The younger stumbled on a piece of rubble however and fell, nearly dragging the older along with him.

"Brother!" the elder shouted, pulling him up.

They kept stumbling along, barely dodging falling debris, and other people also trying to escape the death and destruction. The two finally found temporary shelter under one of the still stand buildings and stopped to catch their breaths. The younger brother finally broke down into tears.

"Why…?! Why is he doing this to us?!" he sobbed.

The elder pulled him into a tight embrace, trying to soothe him, but to no avail. He only continued to sob.

"I-I didn't mean to make him angry…! He t-told me he wasn't mad…! H-h-he just wanted me to be safe… So why is he doing this?!"

"I told you never to trust a word he said. But you never listened to me! Now look where it's gotten us!"

The younger only cried harder at these words.

"… I'm sorry… now is not the time for me to say such things…we need to get out of the city… it's the only way we will live."

The younger nodded and shakily got to his feet. He took a step and tripped on his shoelaces, crying out as he fell again.

The older groaned out a curse in his native language and bent to tie the younger's shoes.  
They took off running again, only this time everything was deathly silent, and they saw no other souls save each other.

They slowed when the neared the least destroyed part of the once great city. They walked slowly through the streets flanked by still standing buildings.

Both looked around nervously for any sign of life but found nothing. They kept going, slowly but surely making progress through the remaining city. Everything seemed calm finally, nothing compared to the chaos of earlier.

"Is… is it finally over…?" the younger asked.

The older did not respond for a long time.

"I… think so…" he finally said, looking at the sky.

The younger began to cry, relieved. The older began to thank God as he grasped the gold cross that hung around his neck.

However, their relief was premature and short-lived.

A high-pitched whistle came from above.

They looked up just in time to see another bomb falling almost directly on top of them.

"BROTHER RU—"

The bomb exploded when it struck the building beside them. The shock wave alone threw them into building front on the opposite side. Rubble fell around and on top of them, burring them.

Before they had been buried too much, the elder dragged himself to the younger brother and held him close, allowing himself to cry for the first time since the Germans had begun to attack their capital city, his own heart.

At least he has a chance to survive… if those damn Germans haven't touched his heart… it's too late for me… the elder though as black began to overtake his vision.

The last thing the thought before he succumbed to unconsciousness was of the man he loved, and how he wished he had told that Spaniard his feelings when he had had the chance.

The younger brother was still awake after his elder's eyes slid shut. He cried more as he felt his brother's arms go limp around him.

Though he no longer felt the pain of the debris that was slowly crushing his body, he still felt the pain in his heart from his beautiful home being destroyed. His very soul was linked to this land, and he felt the pain of every explosion.  
He felt the pain of every death of every single one of his people that died at the hand of this act of war.

A long time later, the sound of explosion stopped again.  
All he could do was lay there, half buried under the rubble of buildings with his dead (or nearly dead, if he wasn't already) brothers arms around him. He cried to himself, his soft sobs echoing off the remains of the buildings.

After what seemed like an eternity, he heard the sound of footsteps, running towards him. He forced his amber eyes open and looked down the street, wincing at the pain that shot down his neck.

A tall, broad shouldered man with blonde hair was coming towards him.

Coming to finish the job… he knows that I'm still alive… he thought sadly.

The blonde man stopped a few yards from him and looked around franticly.

"Italien!" he cried out desperately, his deep voice carrying over the destruction.

"D…Doitsu…" the younger brother called, his voice was horse and barely audible.

Germany whipped his head around and saw him, half buried under debris. He ran to him, quickly throwing the rubble off his small body. Once both brothers were uncovered, he fell to his knees besides the younger. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he wiped the blood off the younger's face with a gloved hand.

"Es tut mir leid... tut mir so leid Italien... mein Chef... Ich konnte ihn nicht aufhalten... Es tut mir leid... Das ist alles meine Schuld..." Germany said as he genteelly pulled the injured boy into his lap.

"Non sei ... arrabbiato con me ...?"

"Nein Italien... Ich werde nie wirklich böse auf dich. "

"Allora io non ti biasimo... ma ancorat ti perdono Doitsu... ti amo..." this was the last thing he said before his eyes closed and he went limp in the German man's arms.

"Italy…! Italy!" Germany screamed as held the small body in his arms closer, sobs wracking his body.

* * *

Translations:

Es tut mir leid... tut mir so leid Italien... mein Chef... Ich konnte ihn nicht aufhalten... Es tut mir leid... Das ist alles meine Schuld...  
I'm sorry ... I'm so sorry Italy ... my boss ... I could not stop him ... I'm sorry ... This is all my fault ...

Non sei ... arrabbiato con me ...?  
You are not ... angry with me ...?

Nein Italien... Ich werde nie wirklich böse auf dich.  
No Italy ... Iwill never truly be angry at you.

Allora io non ti biasimo... ma ancorat ti perdono Doitsu... ti amo  
Then I do not blame you ... I forgive you ... but still Doitsu I love you

I don't speak much Italian or German (yet) so if you know anything is wrong please correct me.


End file.
